At LEAP, nearly 300 Mount Holyoke students present about their internships and research experiences. You will hear from future policy makers, activists, entrepeneurs, data scientists, teachers, researchers, and market analysts. Most will tell stories of unmitigated success and transformative learning. Others will share details of unexpected challenges they faced, and how they were required to shift and adapt in response. Students worked in 42 countries in every imaginable field. They will discuss important issues of social justice, relate how they met challenges of communication and expression in new contexts, and talk about how to find and succeed in summer internships.

LEAP is designed to give students who aspire to undertake internships and summer research the opportunity to learn from their peers. It is also for the whole Mount Holyoke community where family, friends, faculty, staff and our alumnae come together to celebrate the work and contributions of the presenters.

We are hugely impressed by students in College 211 and inspired by their individual success and collective learning. Their work in bringing the LEAP Symposium to fruition was exceptional. We thank the faculty, staff, alumnae, donors, and internship and research providers whose contributions have make this event possible.

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Despite our differing interests, we explored dimensions of entrepreneurship, language acquisition, sustainability and their intersection with the field of education. Through our internships, we connected the theoretical knowledge we have acquired in our Mount Holyoke courses with practical application in unconventional learning environments. The intercultural and technological exchanges in which we participated allowed us to act as stepping stones for the young and old learners we met. A valuable lesson that we all learned from our summers was that even though we were in positions of teaching and coordinating, we were just as much students in our individual experiences.

The Intersectionality of Foreign Languages and Education, International Relations Major

This summer I interned at the International Language Institute of Massachusetts, a private, not-for-profit language school located in Northampton, Massachusetts. Its mission is to promote intercultural understanding by providing high-quality language instruction and teacher training... Read More →

Change is Simple: Supporting the Environmental Movement through Education, Environmental Studies Major

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Teaching English Abroad: the Discrepancy of English Education for Migrant Children in China, Romance Languages Major

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